MARRIAGE PROPOSALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10079, 14 March 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

MARRIAGE PROPOSALS.

HOW FAR SHALL A WOMAN GO DURING 1896 TO ENCOURAGE MAN. The above momentous question is being

discussed in the New York Herald. That enterprising paper has offered a prize of £101) to the woman who sends the best answer to it up to a certain date. We quote some of the answers already received :— Mrs. F.E.W, writes: Might not a lady suggest that the next time the gentleman called not to knock, but to come with a

ring? Clarice ; Let her show him by the many little arts which she knows eo well that he and he alone id the man she loves; then, as love begets love, a proposal should follow, If it seem long in coining, let her awaken in hill) a feeling of jealousy; for love and Jealousy are the ruling passions of all manKind, and by them any man can be swayed. But never, never should she propose. No self-respecting man could pardon that act of folly on the part of the woman he is about to marry. Let her string the arrow in the bow, and bid it speed, but let his be the hand that shall aim and pull it, for Cupid will ever be a man, the "twentiethcentury girl" notwithstanding. E.M.L.: Being a young lady of marriageable age, I would say that she must make no attempt at proposing and no advances toward young men, but she should always have an air of dignity when in their presence. Ypung ladies who follow this plan will be muoh more likely to have the chauco of marriage and also a happy one than those who study the arts of pleasing and proposing.

Caroline: I would suggest sending him a little New Year's gift, say, a chest protector, embroidered with lorgei-me-nou. Jessamine : It iB questionable with many whether a woman has any right to show her preference for a gentleman admirer and retain her modesty. This rule held good in the '' old schoolbut as >ve progress the question arises, •' Why should not a woman show bar feelings, and yet retain her womanliness It is perfectly natural or us to express our gratitude to the opposite sex (or any little attentions shown, and we can show a man friend that we enjoy his society and admire his sterling qualities without forgetting our self-respect or in any way becoming bold. Why should not a woman show a man that she prefers his society to tlmt of other men ? tihe need not tell him in so many words, but she can sjiow him that she enjoys his conversation and his courteous attentions without in any way forgetting her dignity. Marriage is a civil contract, and one side is as much Interested as the other. It is, in fact, a partnership tor life. Both have the same interests in life. tVliy, then, should not a wouian bare it in her power to piopose? if she linows the mail ill view admires her, and only lacks courage to ask her to become his wife, she need not be either bold or forward, but she can show him by her actions that she respects him and admires him, and that he, above all others, has her love. There is a power unseen which tells two people who lovo one another each one's feelings regarding the other. Not a word may be spoken, nut a glance of the eye and a lingering of the clasped hands tell more than volumes. Heart speaks to heart. As the song says, " Love comes like a summer's Sigh, softly o'er one stealing. ' It seems to me that a woman may encourage a man ami ijhow him that she in willing and ready to be his life partner without either telling him in so many words or making undue advances. If a man wishes to marry a woman lie generally betrays himself in a hundred different ways. And unless a woman is very conceited or a fool she will not mistake kind attentions and gallant behaviour for genuine love, pure and unalloyed. i will say to anyone that, in my opinion, it is most honest and upright to show que true filings toward the opposite sex, whatever they may be, than to fijrt and Coquette. Nothing is so bad as to play " last and loose' 1 with one's affections. A true heart is too sacred a tiling to be trilled With. Therefore show your" true colours," and do not be ashamed of an honest affection, Kememoer what the poet says, "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." S.A.L.: " How tar may a woman go to encourage a man to propose marriage?" As far as modesty and self-respect will allow.